1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor vehicle accessories, and particularly to a receiver hitch assembly having a vertically oriented receiver, the receiver being concealed by the rear bumper of the towing vehicle when the drawbar is removed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Trailer hitches and/or rearward-mounted attachments for removably mounting and/or carrying various articles on a motor vehicle are popular accessories on many motor vehicles. An increasingly popular version of such hitches or attachments is the so-called “receiver hitch,” in which a tubular (generally square cross-section) socket or receptacle, known as a receiver, is permanently mounted on the rear of the towing vehicle, and the drawbar with its hitch ball or other trailer attachment is removably installed to the receiver when it is necessary to tow a trailer or mount some external structure to the receiver hitch. While such hitches are quite common on larger motor vehicles, such as pickup trucks, larger vans, and sport utility vehicles, they have become increasingly popular installations on standard automobiles and smaller cars as well.
A major problem with such hitch installations, particularly on smaller automobiles, is the difficulty in providing clearance below the rear bumper valance for the drawbar when it is installed, while at the same time providing ground clearance for the receiver socket or receptacle when the bar is removed from the receiver. One solution has been to cut away a portion of the bumper for clearance, but this is obviously unsightly and not many vehicle owners are willing to damage their vehicles in this manner. Even when the permanent portion of the hitch assembly, i.e., the mounting structure that attaches to the vehicle frame and the receiver that extends from the mounting structure, is mounted in such a manner as to provide clearance from the bumper for the drawbar when installed, the result is an unsightly protrusion of the receiver from beneath the rear bumper of the vehicle, even when the drawbar has been removed from the receiver.
Thus, a receiver hitch assembly solving the aforementioned problems is desired.